Measuring rule



" Dec. 4,- 1934; A VOL; 1 1,933,503

MEASURING RULE Filed Feb. 25, 1933' 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FrederiokAQ 011.

4, 1934. F. A. VOLZ 1,983,503

I MEASURING RULE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 25,- 1953 Fig.7

' Frederick A1612 aw? W Patented Dec. 4, 1934 1,983,503 I MEASURING RULEFrederick A. Volz, New Britain, Conn., assignor to The Stanley Works,New Britain, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application February25, 1933, Serial No. 658,547

In the patent to Farrand No. 1,402,589 dated I Referring to the drawingsin detail, A denotes 13 Claims.

January 3, 1922, is disclosed a measuring device including a resilientmetallic ribbon or tape of transverse curvature and having an inherenttendency to assume a straight or rod-like form, and a holder in whichthe flexible rule is adapted to" be coiled in such condition as topermit uncoiling of the rule from its inner end, rules of this sortbeing known as the inside wind type. This invention relates generally torules of this type, although certain features may be incorporated inrules of the outside win type.

The aim of the invention is to provide an improved inside wind type' ofrule having various features of novelty and advantage and which isparticularly characterized by the ease and facility with which the endof the rule may be inserted into the casing preliminary to the windingoperation and in which the uncoiling and coiling operations may be veryeasily and evenly carried out without danger of injuring the rule.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more indetail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction,combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will beexemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth and the scope ofthe application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein I have ring B, free rotation ofwhich is prevented by shown, for illustrative purposes, one .of the manyembodiments which the present invention may take:

Figure 1 is a view looking at the top of the device with the rulepartially uncoiled;

' Fig. 2 is a view looking towards the back of the cover portion of thecasing, the rear half of the casing being removed;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view through the device, this viewbeing taken substantially on line 3-3 of Fig. 1; v

Fig. 4 is a like view taken on line 44 of Fig. 1';

' Fig. 5 shows one form of rotatablering within which the rule isadapted to be coiled;

Fig. 6 is another form of ring;

Fig. '7 is a top view of the bottom belief the casing;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view of the casing taken substantially on a line8-8 of Fig. l; and v a Fig. 9 is a perspective view of another type illgenerally'the casing within which is rotatably mounted a case in theform of a cylindrical means of a brake in the form of a spring Cinterposed between the ring and the casing and adapted to frictionallyengage the cylindrical wall of one of those elements. The letter Ddesignates the measuring tape which, as in said Farrand patent, is inthe form of a metallic ribbon curved to have a concavo-convex sectionand sufliciently flexible to permit of its being rolled or coiled; itsstiffness and resiliency being suflicient to cause it to assume andretain a straight rod-like condition when permitted to do In the presentillustrative disclosure, the casing A is in the form of twocomplementary sheet metal parts 10 and 11 adapted to telescope one intothe other. The casing part 11, which, for convenience, is called thebottom part, has a bottom wall 12 and a cylindrical wall with portionsof different diameters, namely, a short portion 13 and a longer portionor skirt ,14 offsetoutwardly from the portion 13. The top portion of thecasing has an-annular rim 15, and a peripheral wall having a relativelyshort portion 16 of the same diameter as the portion 13 anda skirtportion 17 adapted to fit in the skirt 14. The parts are held togetherby closing the outer skirt over the shoulder on the. part 10, as at 18.It will be observed that there is provided within the casing an annulargroove 19 above and'below which are internal bearing surfaces providedby the portions 13 and 16 of the cylindrical walls, and the purpose ofwhich arrangement will be described more in detail hereinafter.

The casing to each side of the line 33 in Fig. 1 is of like constructionand, therefore, a description of one side will apply to the other side.It may be said here, however, that the casing is provided with twoentrance openings or mouths in order to permit the tape to be woundeither in a right hand direction or a. left hand directionwithin thecasing, depending upon the whim of the particularuser. The casing has abridge portion extending from the top to the bottom of the casing. Thisbridge includes an ear. 20 projecting upwardly from the bottom of thecasing and an ear 21 on the rim of rotary ring, in this view the innerend. of-

55 to the ring.

15 inclined towards the center of the casing and towards the vbottom ofthe casing. The lower end of the ear 21 registers with the top of theear or lug 20. This bridge portion forms the will be observed that themouth is relatively narrow in a radial direction at the top of thecasing and is relatively wide at the bottom of the casing. The width ofthe mouth at its top is designated by the letter a: in Fig. 8, and thewidth of the mouth at the bottom is designated by the letter y. Also,the forward edge 23 of the bridge is inclined backwardly (i. e., in thedirection in which the tape travels in entering the casing) with respectto a radius of the casing passing through the front corner of the mouth.y

In rules of this type, as previously made, not infrequently the ruleshave become distorted or twisted spiraily due to the fact that the outeredge of the rule is forced against the top corner of the mouth, and theface of the rule, im-

mediately adjacent the inner edge thereof, is

forced and drawn over the bottom edge of the bridge, thereby ironing, soto speak, the inner edge of the rule. It is an object of the presentinvention to eliminate this ironing effect and resultant damage to therule. To this end, the lug 20, adjacent its base, is curved about anaxis eccentrically placed backwardly of the center of curvature of thecasing, and the lug, adjacent its forward end, is relieved. In thepresent illustrative disclosure, as will be seen most clearly from Fig.7, the lug, adjacent its base, is curved about a center 25, and the lug,adjacent its forward edge, is struck about a longer radius and aboutacenter 26 rearwardly of the center .25. The lug, at its bottom portion,also is, inclined upwardly and inwardly towards the center of thecasing. With this arrangement, an ironing effect on the rule is avoidedin all conditions of operating the rule.

or less sharply relieved at its forward edge,-

there is a radius of suflicient length to prevent any ironing effect.

It is to be understood that, when the blade is wound into the ring, itwill, due to being longitudinally flexed, straighten out into flat crosssection, as explained in said Farrand patent. Difficulty, due to thetendency of the rule to resist bending, may be experienced in initiallyinserting the end of the rule into the casing. In order to facilitateinitial entry of the rule into thecasing, the end of the rule which goesinto the casing first and which would ordinarily bear-the highest scalemark, is rendered more easily bendableor flexible, say for a portion ofabout one-half an inch or so. This and of the rule is designated by thenumeral 9 in Fig. 2. Thus, when starting the end 9 of the rule into themouth of the casing, it may more readily accommodate itself to thecurvature of the cas- 1 ing and rule ring, and is less liable to diginto,

-. and stick against, those membefs. the rule may be reduced instiffness by putting The end of a counteracting set in this portion ofthe rule atthe same time reducing some of the set which forms 'theconcave-convex section.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 9, the inner end of the rule isillustrated as being P OtQ- LY connected, as by a pin or rivet 31, to ashort attaching strip 32 which, in turn, is secured to the ring B. Theattaching strip 32 may be formed of a ribbon having characteristicssimilar to the metal tape. With this arrangement, the rule is more orless permanently connected to the ring although, if desired, theconnection 31 may be a quick detachable one. The pivotal connectionpermits the rule to be swung to desired positions and allows the innerend of the rule to be employed as a starting point of the measurementbeing taken. In this embodiment, the inner or pivoted end of the rule isrendered more easily bendable or flexible in the same manner and for thesame purposes as is the inner end of the rule where the-rule is notattached to the ring, as in the preceding embodiment. Also, bypreference, the outer end of the attaching strip rendered more easilybendable or flexible. Thus, the overlapping ends of the attaching stripand rule are sufficiently pliable so that the double thickness at thispoint will not materially interfere with the ease and facility withwhich the rule may be wound up in the ring.

The rotary rule case B may be of any suitable form, it here being shownas comprising a ring formed of a strip of metal rolled into cylindricalshape. This ring is of such height that it will more or less loosely fltbetween the top and bottom .wallsof the casing, and is of such diameterthat it will loosely engage the peripheral walls 16 and 13 of the casingto opposite sides of the annular groove 19. Interposed between theperipheral walls of the ring and casing is a brake which may be in theform of a leaf spring C, this spring, in the embodiment shown in Figs..1 to, 8, being accommodated by the groove 19. The spring, as shown inFig. 5, may be in the form of a strip having two spring fingers. Thespring at its intermediate portion may be secured to the ring by meansof rivets 30. In Fig. 6, the spring C is formed as an integral part ofthe ring itself, it being observed that this; spring finger projectsoutwardly and beyond the joint in the ring. This spring effects abralnng action'on the rotating case and, preferably, the friction orresistance to rotation exerted by the ring just counterbalances, asnearly a rectilinear shape. The advantage of this arrangement is thatthe rule is prevented from shooting out of the casing. In other words,the device is of the balanced or push-pull type in "as practical, thetendency of the rule to assume which it is necessary to push the rule inand pull it out, as distinguished from permitting the rule to uncoilitself when there is no resistance to the uncoiling operation.

It will be observed, as previously pointed out,

that, in the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 8,

the spring, which constitutes the brake, is positioned within the groove19 of the casing. If desired, the ring element may be provided with agroove for accommodating the spring, this arrangement'beingshown in'Fig.9 wherein the 0 ring B has a circumferential groove 19'. In this case,the ring has bearing surfaces 13' and 16' adapted to bear against theinner periphery of the cylindrical wall of the casing. If a groove werenot provided for accommodating the spring, 1 5

there would be an uneven braking action when pushing the rule into thecasing or pulling it out, due to the fact that the force exerted on therule tends to force the rotating ring against the side of the casingin adirection in which the rule blade itself is fed into or pulled out ofthe casing. When the spring comes in line with this force, the frictionis increased between the ring rule and the casing and then, when thespring moves out of this line of force, the friction is lessened. Byproviding the channel either in the casing or the ring, the spring isallowed to maintain practically uniform tension, since the rule ringitself will directly engage the peripheral wall of the casing.Therefore, the force exerted in entering or withdrawing the rule cannot,except slightly, compress or release the fixed tension of the brakespring, which means that an even, smooth action is had when winding orunwinding the rule. It is not necessary that the spring brake be securedto the ring.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and manyapparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be madewithout departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all mattercontained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawingsshall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the followingclaims is intended to cover all of the'generic and specific features ofthe invention herein described and all statements of the scope of theinvention which, as a matter of language, might be said to falltherebetween.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination, a flexible ribbon rule of concave-convex crosssection and sufiicient stifimess to maintain itself in substantiallystraight form, a casing for maintaining said rule in an annular coiledcondition and formed to allow it to be coiled and uncoiled from itsinner end, said casing having an entrance mouth between the top andbottom sides thereof provided with an edge passing through the annulus,said edge being inclined away from a plane passing through the axis ofsaid casing and the juncture of said edge with the top of said casing,on the side of said plane opposite the major portion of the mouth.

2. In combination, a flexible ribbon rule of concave-convex crosssectionand suificient stiffneas to maintain itself in substantially straightform, a casing for maintaining said rule in a coiled condition andformed to allow it to be coiled and uncoiled from its inner end, saidcasing having an entrance mouth provided with an edge passing throughthe 'coil, said edge being inclined away from a plane passing throughthe axis of said casing and the juncture of said edge with the top ofsaid casing, on the side of said plane opposite the major portion of themouth, the side of said mouth adjacent to the bottom side of said casingbeing wider than the side adjacent to the top side of said casing.

3. In combination, a cylindrical casing for re-' ceiving a flexible ruleof concavo-convex cross section and within which the rule is adapted tobe coiled in a condition to allow it to be coiled or uncoiledfrom itsinner end, a mouth in said casing for. the insertion and withdrawal ofthe rule therethrough and a rotary case in said casing and within whichthe rule is adapted to be -wound, said casing having a bridge with anedge forming one side of the mouth of the easing, said bridge adjacentthe bottom'side of the casing having a curvature in the plane of thebottom side of the casing of lesser radius than the casing, the centerof curvature" of the bridge being on that side of the center ofcurvature of the casing oppositato said mouth.

4. In combination, a cylindrical casing for receiving a flexible rule ofconcavo-convex cross section and within which the rule is adapted to becoiled in a condition to allow it to be coiled or uncoiled from itsinner end, a mouth in said casing for the insertion and withdrawal ofthe rule therethrough and a rotary case in said casing and within whichthe rule is adapted to be wound, saidcasing having a bridge with an edgeforming one side of the mouth of the casing, said bridge adjacent thebottom side of the casing having a curvature in the plane of the bottomside of the casing of lesser radius than the casing, the center ofcurvature of the bridge being on that side of the center of curvature ofthe casing opposite to said mouth, said bridge adjacent said bottom andits forward edge being inclined inwardly towards the centerv of thecasing.

5. In combination, a cylindrical casing for receiving a flexible rule ofconcave-convex cross section and within which the rule is adapted to becoiled in a condition to allow it to be coiled or uncoiled from itsinner end, a mouth in said casing for the insertion and withdrawal ofthe rule therethrough and a I rotary case in said casing and withinwhich said rule is adapted to be wound, said casing having a bridge withan edge forming one side of the mouth of the casing and inclinedbackwardly with respect to a, radial line of the casing passing throughthe forward upper corner of the mouth, said bridge adjacent the bottomof the casing having a curvature in the plane of the bottom side of thecasing of lesser radius than the casing, the cen- .ter of curvature ofthe bridge being on that side of the center of curvature of the casingopposite to said mouth.

6. In combination, a cylindrical casing for receiving a flexible rule ofconcavo-convex cross section and within which the rule is adapted to becoiled in a condition to allow it to be coiled or uncoiled from itsinner end, a mouth in said casing for the insertion and withdrawal ofthe rule therethrough and a rotary case in said casing and within whichsaid rule is adapted to be wound, saidcasing having a bridge with'anedge forming one side of the mouth of the casing and inclined backwardlywith respect to a radial line of the casing passing through theforwardupper corner of the mouth, said bridge adjacent the bottom of thecasing having acurvature in the plane of the bottom side of the casingof lesser-radius than the casing, the center of ourvature of the bridgebeing on that side of the center of curvature of the casing opposite tosaid mouth, said bridge adjacent its bottom being inclinedinwardlytowards the center of the casing and upwardly.

7. In combination, a casing member having a cylindrical wall, arotatable case member mounted in said casing member, one of said membershaving a circumferential annular channel and bearing surfaces at theopposite sides of the channel, said bearing surfaces being adapted tocal wall provided with an annular channel and cylindrical bearingsurfaces to opposite sides of the channel, a rotatable case mounted inthe casing and adapted to bear against saidbearing concave-convex crosssection and sufficient stiffness to maintain itselfin substantiallystraight form, and a casing within which said rule is adapted to becoiled and uncoiled, the entering end of said rule being relatively moreflexible than the major portion of the rule so as to facilitate entry ofthe rule into the casing,

11. In combination, a flexible ribbon rule of concavo-convex crosssection and sufiicient stifiness to maintain itself in substantiallystraight form, a casing for maintaining said rule in a coiled conditionand formed to allow it to be .the major portion of the rule in order'tofacilitate entry of the rule into the casing.

12. In combination, a flexible ribbon rule of' concavo-convex crosssection and suflicient stiflness to maintain itself in substantiallystraight form, a casing within which said rule is adapted to be coiledand uncoiled, and an attaching strip anchored within the casing andconnected in overlapping relation to the inner end of said rule, theouter end of said strip and the inner end of said rule being relativelymore flexible than the major portion of the rule.

13. A flexible ribbon rule of concavo-oonvex cross section and ofsumcient stifiness to maintain itself in substantially straight form,said rule lasing adapted to be coiled in a casing or the li e, one endof said rule being of reduced stiifness transversely in order tofacilitate entry of that end of the rule into the casing.

FREDERICK A. VOLZ.

